Coronavirus: 'Health first' - SAI asks NSFs to exercise caution

The Government has advised all National Sports Federations to exercise caution while planning foreign competitions and training for the teams and individual athletes.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen the postponement of numerous sporting events across the globe, including the World Indoor Track and Field championships, the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix, Moto GP races in Qatar and Thailand and several Serie A football games in Italy.

The Sports Authority of India on Wednesday issued an advisory on Coronavirus to all the National Sports Federations. “Athletes' health comes first,” was the message from the SAI.

“The Coronavirus outbreak has had consequences and repercussions across the globe. It is a very important year in the world of sports with the Olympics set to take place in Tokyo July-August,” SAI said in a press release.

The SAI release added, “However in light of the outbreak of the Coronoavirus in several countries in the world, including some reported cases in India, the Government has advised all National Sports Federations to exercise caution while planning foreign competitions and training for the teams and individual athletes in the light of the importance of some of these competitions which contribute to Olympic qualification.”

The advisory also said, “While the government understands the criticality of ranking tournaments and Olympic qualifiers, you would understand that the health of our athletes takes precedence. Therefore we would like to request the NSFs to adhere by the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.”